BIOMASS ENERGY - explains the various sources of biomass, its characteristics and energy routes

1. z
BIOMASS
ENERGY

2. z
BIOMASS
 Biomass is organic, it is made of material that comes from living
organisms, such as plants and animals.
 The most common biomass materials used for energy are plants,
wood, and waste. These are called biomass feedstocks.
 Biomass is fuel that is developed from organic materials, a
renewable and sustainable source of energy used to create
electricity or other forms of power.
 Biomass is a renewable source of fuel to produce energy
because:
 waste residues will always exist in terms of scrap wood, mill
residuals and forest resources
 properly managed forests will always have more trees, and we
will always have crops and the residual biological matter
from those crops.

3. z
BIOMASS ENERGY
 Biomass energy is generated or produced by living or
once-living organisms.
 Biomass power is carbon neutral electricity generated
from renewable organic waste that would otherwise
be dumped in landfills, openly burned or left as
fodder for forest fires.
 Biomass contains energy first derived from the sun -
Plants absorb the sun’s energy
through photosynthesis and convert carbon dioxide
and water into nutrients.
 The energy from these organisms can be transformed
into usable energy through direct and indirect means.
 Biomass can be burned to create heat (direct),
converted into electricity (direct) or processed
into biofuel (indirect).

4. z
BIOMASS - SOME BASIC DATA

5. z
BIOMASS CYCLE

6. z
BIOMASS CYCLE
 Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the earth are combined in
the photosynthetic process to produce carbohydrates (sugars) that form the
building blocks of biomass
 The solar energy that drives photosynthesis is stored in the chemical bonds of
the structural components of biomass
 If we burn biomass efficiently, oxygen from the atmosphere combines with the
carbon in plants to produce carbon dioxide and water
 All of the fossil fuels we consume - coal, oil and natural gas - are simply
ancient biomass
 Over millions of years, the earth has buried ages-old plant material and
converted it into these valuable fuels

7. CARBON CYCLE

8. z
WHERE DOES BIOMASS COME FROM?

9. z
USES OF BIOMASS
Biomass
Food Cereals, feed, fodder, fruits and vegetables, herbs, medicines
Textile Clothing, linen materials, etc
Energy Electricity generation, biodiesel, bioethanol, heating, etc
Construction Buildings, furniture, packaging, decoration
Paper and
pulp
Chemicals
Butanediol, butadiene, ethyl lactate, fatty acids, furfural,
glycerin, isoprene, lactic acid, etc propanediol, propylene
glycol, succinic acid, para-xylene
Soil fertilizer

10. z
SOURCE OF BIOMASS

11. z
BIOMASS FEEDSTOCKS
 Biomass feedstocks include dedicated energy crops,
agricultural crop residues, forestry residues, algae, wood
processing residues, municipal waste and wet waste
WOOD PROCESSING RESIDUES
 Wood processing yields by-products and waste streams that are
collectively called wood processing residues with significant
energy potential.
 For example, the processing of wood for products or pulp
produces unused sawdust, bark, branches, and leaves/needles,
that can then be converted into biofuels or bioproducts.
 Because these residues are already collected at the point of
processing, they can be convenient and relatively inexpensive
sources of biomass for energy.

12. z

13. z
FORESTRY RESIDUES
 Forest biomass feedstocks fall into the following categories:
 forest residues left after logging timber (limbs, tops and
culled trees)
 whole-tree biomass harvested explicitly for biomass. Dead,
diseased, poorly formed, and other unmerchantable trees
are often left in the woods following timber harvest.
 This woody debris can be collected for use in bioenergy, while
leaving enough behind to provide habitat and maintain proper
nutrient and hydrologic features.
 There are also opportunities to make use of excess biomass on
millions of acres of forests.
 Harvesting excessive woody biomass can reduce the risk of fire
and pests, as well as aid in forest restoration, productivity,
vitality, and resilience.
 This biomass could be harvested for bioenergy without
negatively impacting the health and stability of forest ecological
structure and function.

14. z
DEDICATED ENERGY CROPS
 The non-food crops that can be grown on marginal land (land
not suitable for traditional crops like corn and soybeans)
specifically to provide biomass. These break down into two
general categories: herbaceous and woody.
 Herbaceous energy crops are perennial (plants that live for
more than 2 years) grasses that are harvested annually after
taking 2 to 3 years to reach full productivity. These include
switchgrass, miscanthus, bamboo, sweet sorghum, tall fescue,
kochia, wheat grass and others.
 Short-rotation woody crops are fast-growing hardwood trees
that are harvested within 5 to 8 years of planting. These
include hybrid poplar, hybrid willow, silver maple, eastern
cottonwood, green ash, black walnut, sweetgum and sycamore.
Many of these species can help improve water and soil quality,
improve wildlife habitat relative to annual crops, diversify
sources of income and improve overall farm productivity.

15. z
ALGAE
 Algae as feedstocks for bioenergy refers to a diverse group of
highly productive organisms that include microalgae,
macroalgae (seaweed) and cyanobacteria (formerly called
“blue-green algae”).
 Many use sunlight and nutrients to create biomass, which
contains key components including lipids, proteins and
carbohydrates that can be converted and upgraded to a
variety of biofuels and products.
 Depending on the strain, algae can grow by using fresh, saline
or brackish water from surface water sources, groundwater or
seawater.
 Additionally, they can grow in water from second-use sources,
such as treated industrial wastewater, municipal, agricultural,
or aquaculture wastewater or produced water generated from
oil and gas drilling operations.

16. z
AGRICULTURAL CROP RESIDUE
 There are many opportunities to leverage agricultural
resources on existing lands without interfering with the
production of food, feed, fiber or forest products.
 Agricultural crop residues, which include the stalks and
leaves, are abundant, diverse and widely distributed across the
United States.
 Examples include corn stover (stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs),
wheat straw, oat straw, barley straw, sorghum stubble and rice
straw.
 The sale of these residues to a local biorefinery also represents
an opportunity for farmers to generate additional income.

17. Rice Husk Saw Dust
Groundnut Shell
Jowar Stalks
Bagasse Coirpith
AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES FOR ENERGY CONVERSION

21. z
WET WASTE
 Wet waste feedstocks include commercial, institutional, and
residential food wastes (particularly those currently disposed
of in landfills), organic-rich biosolids (i.e., treated sewage
sludge from municipal wastewater), manure slurries from
concentrated livestock operations, organic wastes from
industrial operations and biogas (the gaseous product of the
decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen)
derived from any of the above feedstock streams.
 Transforming these “waste streams” into energy can help
create additional revenue for rural economies and solve
waste-disposal problems

22. z
SORTED MUNICIPAL WASTE
 MSW resources include mixed commercial and residential
garbage, such as yard trimmings, paper and paperboard,
plastics, rubber, leather, textiles and food wastes.
 MSW for bioenergy also represents an opportunity to reduce
residential and commercial waste by diverting significant
volumes from landfills to the refinery.

23. z
BIOMASS POTENTIALS
 There is an enormous biomass potential that can be tapped by improving the
utilization of existing resources and by increasing plant productivity
 Bioenergy can be modernized through the application of advanced technology to
convert raw biomass into modern, easy-to-use carriers (such as electricity, liquid
or gaseous fuels or processed solid fuels)
 Therefore, much more useful energy could be extracted from biomass than at
present
 This could bring very significant social and economic benefits to both rural and
urban areas
 The present lack of access to convenient sources limits the quality of life of
millions of people throughout the world, particularly in rural areas of developing
countries
 Growing biomass is a rural, labour-intensive activity and can therefore, create
jobs in rural areas and help stem rural-to-urban migration, whilst at the same
time, providing convenient carriers to help promote other rural industries

24. z
BIOMASS FUELS
 Plants are the most common source of biomass- in the form of wood, peat and
straw for thousands of years
 Plants can either be specially grown for energy production or they can be
harvested from the natural environment
 Plantations tend to use breeds of plant that are to produce a lot of biomass
quickly in a sustainable fashion
 These could be trees (willows or Eucalyptus) or other high growth rate plants
(sugar cane or maize or soybean)

25. z
BIOMASS UTILIZATION

26. z
ENERGY FROM BIOMASS
 In 2020, biomass provided about 4,532 trillion British thermal
units (TBtu), or about 4.5 quadrillion Btu and equal to about
4.9% of total US primary energy consumption.
 Wood wood-derived biomass - 2,101 TBtu
 Biofuels - 2,000 TBtu
 Biomass in municipal wastes - 430 TBtu
 The amounts in Tbtu and percentage shares of total U.S.
biomass energy use by consuming sector in 2020 were
Sector TBtu %
Industrial 2,246 50
Transportation 1,263 28
Residential 458 10
Electric power 424 9
Commercial 141 3

27. z
 The industrial and transportation sectors account for the
largest amounts, in terms of energy content, and largest
percentage shares of total annual US biomass consumption.
The wood products and paper industries use biomass
in combined heat and power plants for process heat and to
generate electricity for their own use. Liquid biofuels (ethanol
and biomass-based diesel) account for most of the
transportation sector's biomass consumption.
 The residential and commercial sectors use firewood and
wood pellets for heating. The commercial sector also
consumes, and in some cases, sells renewable natural gas
produced at municipal sewage treatment facilities and at
waste landfills.
 The electric power sector uses wood and biomass-derived
wastes to generate electricity for sale to the other sectors.

28. z
UTILISATION OF BIOMASS AS THE
ENERGY SOURCE IN THE WORLD

29. z CHARACTERIZATION
 The biomass characteristics and its determination is
important, because based on them only the conversion
route (biomass to energy) can be optimistically identified.
 Characteristics affecting the biomass as fuel are
 Heating value
 Chemical composition
 Moisture content
 Density
 Hardness
 Volatile content
 Ash
 Solid carbon

30. z
HEATING VALUE
 Heating value is the amount of heat obtained when fuel or some
other substance of a specific unit quantity is combusted. There
are two types of heating values:
 The lower heating value (also known as net calorific value) of a
fuel is defined as the amount of heat released by combusting a
specified quantity (initially at 25°C) and returning the
temperature of the combustion products to 150°C, which
assumes the latent heat of vaporization of water in the
reaction products is not recovered.
 The higher heating value (also known gross calorific value or
gross energy) of a fuel is defined as the amount of heat
released by a specified quantity (initially at 25°C) once it is
combusted and the products have returned to a temperature
of 25°C, which takes into account the latent heat of
vaporization of water in the combustion products.

31. z
CALORIMETER
 It is a device used to calculate the Calorific Value of Solid , Liquid & Gaseous
Fuels.
BOMB CALORIMETER
 A bomb calorimeter is a type of constant-volume calorimeter used in
measuring the heat of combustion of a particular reaction.
 Used to measure enthalpy changes of combustion reactions at a constant
volume.
 Basically, a bomb calorimeter consists of a
 Small cup to contain the sample
 Oxygen
 A stainless steel bomb
 Water
 A stirrer
 A thermometer
 The dewar (to prevent heat flow from the calorimeter to the surroundings)
 Ignition circuit connected to the bomb.

32. z
DETERMINATION OF CV BY BOMB CALORIMETER
 The initial temperature of water is noted
 Combustion is started by passing electric current through the
platinium wire.
 That’s, raise the temperature of water, it is recorded from the
temperature
 By knowing the heat capacity of thermometer and also raise in
temperature, the heat evolved can be calculated

33. z
ESTIMATION OF CV OF FUELS
 Standard Formula :
 If the composition of the fuel is : carbon - C%, carbon monoxide- CO%,
sulphur – S%, and oxygen – O%, then calorific value per kg of fuel is given by

 8100 C + 34400 {H – (O/8) } + 2220 S
 = --------------------------------------------------------
 100

34. z
DULONG’S AND BOIE’S FORMULAE
 Dulong has suggested the following empirical formula for calculating the
higher calorific value of fossil fuels( coal, petrol, diesel etc.)
 1
 HHV = ----- [8080 C + 34500 {H – (O/8) } + 2220 S ],
 100
 where HCV is in kcal/kg
 Boie has suggested the following formula for Agricultural Residues
 1
 HHV = ---- [35160 C + 116225 H – 11090 O + 6280 N + 10465 S ]
 100
 where HHV is in kJ/kg

35. z
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
 Cellulose (%)
 Hemicellulose (%)
 Lignin (%)
 Extractives (%)
 Ash (%)

36. z
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
 The chemical composition of biomass varies among species, plants consists of
about 25% lignin and 75% carbohydrates or sugars
 The carbohydrate fraction consists of many sugar molecules linked together in
long chains or polymers
 Two larger carbohydrate categories that have significant value are cellulose
and hemi-cellulose
 The lignin fraction consists of non-sugar type molecules. The lignin fraction
acts like a ”glue” that holds the cellulose fibers together

37. z

38. z
PROXIMATE ANALYSIS
 Proximate analysis indicates the percentage by weight of the
Fixed Carbon, Volatiles, Ash, and Moisture Content in biomass.
 The amounts of fixed carbon and volatile combustible matter
directly contribute to the heating value.
 Fixed carbon acts as a main heat generator during burning.
 High volatile matter content indicates easy ignition.
 The ash content is important in the design of the furnace grate,
combustion volume, pollution control equipment and ash
handling systems of a furnace.
 There are standard methods for proximate analysis
ASTM(American Society for Testing and Materials),
ISO(International Organization for Standardization)
 These standards though similar in nature are slightly different
from each other in carrying out the specifics of the analyses, i.e.,
the temperature and time for determining the VM

39. z
MOISTURE CONTENT
 Moisture content is, simply, how much water is in a product. It
influences the physical properties of a substance, including
weight, density, viscosity, conductivity and others. It is generally
determined by weight loss upon drying.
 Oven-Drying - Specimens are weighed on a balance and then
placed into an oven set to a temperature of 103 ̊C.
 The specimens are considered to be oven dry when the mass
loss in a 3 hour interval is less than or equal to twice the
sensitivity of the balance.
 At this point the oven-dry mass is recorded and the moisture
content is calculated.
 Moisture content (d.b), % = (Wwet – Wdry)/Wdry x 100
 Moisture content (w.b), % = (Wwet – Wdry)/Wwet x 100

40. z
VOLATILE CONTENT
 Volatile content is material that can be easily transformed into a
vapor.
 Volatile content undergoes this transformation so readily because
it has a high vapour pressure.
 The rapid evaporation that volatile content can undergo is used
advantageously in many applications.
 Fresh sample is weighed, placed in a covered crucible, and heated
in a furnace at 650oC for 6 minutes followed by 750oC for 6
minutes.
 The sample is cooled and weighed. Loss of weight represents
volatile matter. The remainder is coke (fixed carbon and ash)
 Volatile content (d.b), % = (W1 – W2)/W1 x 100
 W1 – Weight of moisture free sample; W2 – Weight of the sample
after the release of volatiles

41. z
ASH CONTENT
 The ash content is a measure of the total amount of minerals
present within a food, whereas the mineral content is a measure
of the amount of specific inorganic components present within a
food, such as Ca, Na, K and Cl.
 Dry ashing procedures use a high temperature muffle furnace
capable of maintaining temperatures of between 500 and 600 oC.
 Water and other volatile materials are vaporized and organic
substances are burned in the presence of the oxygen in air to
CO2, H2O and N2.
 Most minerals are converted to oxides, sulfates, phosphates,
chlorides or silicates. Although most minerals have fairly low
volatility at these high temperatures, some are volatile and may
be partially lost, e.g., iron, lead and mercury.

42. z
 If an analysis is being carried out to determine the
concentration of one of these substances then it is advisable
to use an alternative ashing method that uses lower
temperatures.
 The moisture free sample is weighed in a open crucible and
placed in muffle furnace at 750oC until stable weight is
recorded.
 The remaining sample in the crucible is nothing but the ash.
 Ash content (w.b), % = Wash /Wwet
 Ash content (d.b), % = Wash / Wdry

43. z
FIXED CARBON
 Fixed carbon is the solid combustible residue that remains
after a particle is heated and the volatile matter is expelled.
 The fixed-carbon content is determined by subtracting the
percentages of volatile matter, and ash from a sample.
 Fixed carbon, % = 100 – (Volatile content + Ash)

44. z
DENSITY
 Density, mass of a unit volume of a material substance.
 This is defined as the ratio of the mass of the sample to the
volume of the sample at a reference temperature of 15°C.
 The knowledge of density is useful for quantity calculations
and assessing ignition quality. The unit of density is kg/m3.
 d = M/V, where d is density, M is mass, and V is volume.
 TRUE DENSITY
 The true density of material can be estimated by
measuring the mass and volume of samples. The average value
of five specimens will be taken as the true density
 BULK DENSITY
 The bulk density was determined by weighing the
feedstock filled to the bottom in a vessel of known standard
volume and calculating the ratio of the weight of feedstock to
the volume of the vessel (Browning, 1967). The average of five
specimens will be taken as the bulk density

45. z
HARDNESS
 Hardness of a material is defined as its ability to withstand
localized permanent deformation, typically by indentation.
Hardness may also be used to describe a material’s resistance
to deformation due to other actions, such as:
• Cutting
• Abrasion
• Penetration
• Scratching

46. z

47. z
ULTIMATE ANALYSIS
 The ultimate analysis indicates the various elemental chemical
constituents such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Sulphur, etc.
 It is useful in determining the quantity of air required for
combustion and the volume and composition of the combustion
gases.
 This information is required for the calculation of flame
temperature and the flue duct design etc.

48. z
 The ultimate analysis gives elemental carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen of the sample. The ultimate
analysis of feedstock is determined using a Carlo Ebra Elemental analyser (EA 1108) coupled with an auto sampler (AS-
200) and Data Processor (DP 200-PRC) following the procedure suggested by ASTM D3174-76 standards (Grover, 1989).
Analytical conditions maintained for CHNS determination are
 Oxidation furnace temperature = 1200 C
 Reduction furnace temperature = 650 C
 Oven temperature = 60 C
 Filament temperature = 190 C
 Carrier gas : Helium
 Measuring flow rate = 100 ml min-1 at 0.85 kpa
 Reference flow rate = 40 ml min-1 at 1.20 kpa
 Oxygen flow rate = 20 ml min-1 at 1.0 kpa
 Sample delay time = 11 s
 Sample delay stop = 40 s
 Oxygen injection stop = 50 s
 Peak enable stop = 20 s
 Total run time = 650 s
 Sample preparation : Oven dried and ground
 Particle size : 0.2-0.5 mm in diameter
 Sample weight : Approximately 3 mg

49. z
ELEMENTARY ANALYSIS
 The carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and nitrogen (N) determination in biomass
represents the so-called elementary analysis
 The analytical data on the biomass elementary composition are essential to
evaluate the percentage ratio between the main elements, which is very
important to determine the most appropriate biomass use
 A high C/N ratio implies that material can be easily burnt and therefore,
suitable for thermo chemical conversion. A low C/N ratio indicates that is most
suitable for biochemical processes
 In addition, knowledge of nitrogen content in biomass is important for the
evaluation of nitrogen oxides (NOx) which are atmospheric pollutant

50. z
 Care should be taken in using ultimate analyses for fuels with high moisture
content because moisture is indicated in the ultimate analysis as additional
hydrogen and oxygen.
 So, to avoid confusion, it is always better to perform ultimate analyses on a
dry basis.
 For certain biomass materials like municipal solids and animal wastes, the
determination of chlorine is important because it represents a possible
pollutant and corrosive agent in gasification and combustion systems

51. z

52. z
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ULTIMATE ANALYSIS
AND PROXIMATE ANALYSIS
%C = 0.97C+ 0.7(VM - 0.1A) - M(0.6-0.01M)
%H = 0.036C + 0.086 (VM -0.1xA)- 0.0035M2 (1- 0.02M)
%N = 2.10 -0.020 VM
where
C = % of fixed carbon
A = % of ash
VM = % of volatile matter
M = % of moisture

53. ULTIMATE ANALYSIS & CV OF LIQUID FUELS
FUEL ULTIMATE ANALYSIS, % by mass Specific
gravity at
15.6 0C
Stoichiometr
ic Fuel-air
ratio
GROSS CV,
kJ/kg
C H2 O2 N2 S Ash
Gasolene
C8 H18
84.7 15.3 -- -- -- -- 0.707 0.0665 44241
Diesel 86.1 12.0 -- -- 0.9 -- 0.876 0.0666 42450
Ethyl alcohol
C2 H5OH
52.1 13.1 34.8 -- -- -- 0794 0.111 26865
Methyl alcohol
CH3 OH
37.5 12.5 50.0 -- -- -- 0.796 0.155 19957
Heavy fuel oil 86.1 11.8 -- -- 2.1 -- 0.95 -- 43953
Normal Heptane
C7 H16
84.0 16.0 -- -- -- -- 0688 0.0660 44566

54. VOLUMETRIC COMPOSITION & CV OF GASEOUS
FUELS
FUEL PERCENT COMPOSITION BY VOLUME Stoichiom
etric Fuel-
air ratio
GROSS
CV,
kJ/kg
H2 CO CH4 C2 H4 C2 H6 C6H6 O2 N2 CO2
Blast furnace
gas
1.0 27.5 -- -- -- -- -- 60.0 11.5 2698
Blue Water
gas
47.3 37.0 1.3 -- -- -- 0.7 8.3 5.4 13909
Coal gas 54.5 10.9 24.2 1.5 -- 1.3 0.2 4.4 3.0 34425
Coke oven
gas
46.5 6.3 32.1 3.5 -- 0.5 0.8 8.1 2.2 35355
Natural gas -- -- 83.4 -- 15.8 -- -- 0.8 -- 50707
Producer gas 14.0 27.0 3.0 -- -- -- 0.6 50.9 4.5 5396
Biogas -- -- 60.0 -- -- -- -- -- 40.0 19674
(kJ/m3)

55. RENEWABLE ENERGY - POTENTIAL AND
UTILIZATION (POWER GENERATION)
Sources/Systems Potential Harnessed (MW)
(As on 31.12.07)
Biomass Power 19,500 302.50
Co-Generation 692.00
Gasifiers 146.00
Wind Power 45,000 7850.00
Small Hydro Power 15,000 2015.00
Waste to Energy 1,700 560.00
Solar PV Power 2.75
Total 7% of total electricity installations
in India amounting to MW
11,150.00

56. Crop
Production,
MT
Types of
residue
Production to
residue ratio
Quantity,
MT/yr
Sugarcane 280
Bagasse 0.3 84
Tops 0.05 14
Trash 0.07 20
Coconut 14 billion nuts
Shell 0.13 kg/nut 0.2
Fiber 0.2 kg/nut 2.8
Pith 0.2 kg/nut 2.8
Groundnut 9.2
Shells 0.3 2.8
Haulms 2.0 18
Cotton 2.2
Stalks 1.8 7.0
Gin waste 0.1 0.2
Mustard 6.5 Stalks 1.8 12
Other oilseeds 11 Straws 2.0 18
BIOMASS PRODUCTION IN INDIA (BASED ON AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTION FOR 2002-03)

57. Sl.No Crop Input
energy
Kwh/ha
Waste
generated
Kg/ha
Energy from
waste
Kwh/ha
1 Sugar
cane
9166 26705 9000
2 Groundn
ut
2393 3330 1062
3 Cotton 2328 788 264
ENERGY RECOVERY FROM CROP RESIDUE

58. PROPERTIES OF SOME COMMONLY USED
HYDRO-CARBON FUELS
NAME CHEMICAL
FORMULA
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
at 15.6 0C
LOWER HEAT
VALUE, kJ/kg
STOICHIOMETRIC FUEL-AIR
RATIO
Hydrogen H2 0.069 120040 0.418
Methane CH4 0.552 49963 0.105
Ethane C2H6 1.03 47450 0.058
Propane C3H8 1.52 46325 0.0419
Butane C4H10 2.00 45690 0.0323
Acetylene C2H2 0.897 48311 0.0837
Carbon monoxiide CO 0.966 10106 0.0418
Air -- 1.00 -- --

59. COMPARATIVE PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT FUELS
COMMONLY USED IN INDIA
Sl.
no
Fuel Unit Calorific Value
kcal/vol
MODE OF
BURNING
THERMAL
(%0
Effective Heat
Available
kcal/vol
1 Biogas m3 4713 Std. burner 60 2828
2 Kerosene L 9122 Pr. stove 50 4561
3 Cowdung kg 4708 Open chulha 17 814
4 Dung cakes kg 2092 -do- 11 230
5 Charcoal kg 6930 -do- 28 1940
6 Soft coke kg 6292 -do- 28 1762
7 Butane m3 10882 Std. burner 60 6529
8 Furnace oil L 9041 H2O tube boiler 75 6781
9 Coal gas m3 4004 Std. burner 60 2402
10 Electricty kWh 860 Hot plate 70 602
11 Fuel wood kg 4700 Open chulha 12 564

60. z
CLIMATE CHANGE
 Climate change is a growing concern world-wide. Human activity, primarily
through the combustion of fossil fuels has released hundreds of millions of
tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
 GHGs include such gases as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The
concern is that all of the GHG in the atmosphere will change the Earth’s
climate, disrupting the entire biosphere which currently supports life
 Biomass energy technologies can help minimize this concern. Although both
methane and CO2 pose significant threats, CH4 is 21 times more potent than
CO2. Capturing methane from landfills, waste-water treatment and lagoons
prevents the methane from being vented to the atmosphere and allows the
energy to be used to generate electricity or power motor vehicles

61. z
 All crops, including biomass energy crops, sequester carbon in the plant and
roots while they grow, providing a carbon sink. In other words, the carbon
dioxide released while burning biomass is absorbed by the next crop growing.
This is called as closed carbon cycle
 In fact, the amount of carbon sequestered may be greater than that released
by combustion because most energy crops are perennials, they are harvested
by cutting rather than uprooting
 Thus the roots remain to stabilize the soil, sequester carbon and to regenerate
the following year

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BENEFITS OF BIOMASS AS ENERGY SOURCE
 Rural economic development in both developed and developing countries is one of
the major benefits of biomass
 Increase in farm income and market diversification, reduction of agricultural
commodity surpluses and derived support payments, enhancement of
international competitiveness, revitalization of retarded rural economies, reduction
of negative environmental impacts are most important issues related to utilization
of biomass as energy source
 The new incomes for farmers and rural population improve the material welfare of
rural communities and this might result in a further activation of the local
economy
 In the end, this will mean a reduction in the emigration rates to urban
environments, which is very important in many areas of the world

63. z ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
 The use of biomass energy has many unique qualities that provide
environmental benefits
 It can help mitigate climate change, reduce acid rain, soil erosion, water
pollution and pressure on landfills, provide wildlife habitat and help maintain
forest health through better management

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